Introduction to Population Health Flashcards
Health: Definition
The extent to which an individual or group is able to realize aspirations and satisfy needs, and to change or cope with the environment. Health is a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living; it is a positive concept, emphasizing social and personal resources as well as physical capabilities.
Wellness: Definition
A state of dynamic physical, mental, social and spiritual well-being that enables a person to achieve full potential and an enjoyable life.
Illness: Definition
The subjective sense of feeling unwell. Illness does not define a specific pathology, but refers to a person’s subjective experience of it, such as discomfort, tiredness, or general malaise.
Disease: Definition
Implies a focus on pathological processes that may, or may not produce symptoms and that result in a patient’s illness.
Sickness: Definition
A socially and culturally held conception of health conditions (eg. The dread of cancer or the stigma of mental illness), which in turn influences how the patient reacts.
Population Health: Definition
The approach to foster individual responsibility for health, while also addressing the underlying social determinants, such as poverty or lack of access to care, that constrain people’s ability to achieve real gains in health.
Public Health: Definition
The general focus on preventing disease and protecting health. It is defined as the organized efforts of society to keep people healthy and prevent injury, illness and premature death.
Determinants of Health
- Income and social status
- Education and literacy
- Employment and working conditions
- Social support networks
- Social environments
- Physical environments
- Personal health practices and coping skills
- Healthy child development
- Biology and genetic endowment
- Health services
- Gender
- Culture
Morbidity: Definition
Refers to the rate of being diseased or unhealthy within a population (incidence of ill health)
Mortality: Definition
The term used for the number of people who have died within a population (incidence of death)
Prevalence: Definition
All existing cases in a fixed time period/population size.
This is influenced by both the incidence and duration of the illness.
It is the measure of choice for assessing the burden of a chronic disease.
Point Prevalence: Definition
The prevalence when calculated at a single point in time.
This is all existing cases NOW / population size.
Mortality Rates
Infant Mortality Rate = (death among children <1 yr) / (live births in same year)
Neonatal Mortality Rate = (death among children <1 days) / (live births in same year)
Crude Mortality Rate = [(deaths during a specified period) / (population specified)] x 10n
Life Expectancy: Definition
An estimate of the expected number of years to be lived by a newborn based on age-specific mortality rates at a selected time.
Potential Years of Life Lost (PYLL)
The number of years lost to a disease.
For example, if a man dies at 55 and the life expectency is 75, the PYLL = 20
